The present invention relates to the field of headaches and, more particularly, to a pressure application device for aiding in compressing an extracranial blood vessel underlying the skin of the head, the device helping to substantially ameliorate a classic migraine headache.
Migraine is a periodically recurring headache which generally manifests as a very localized headache. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the population suffers from a more or less serious form of migraine headache.
There are numerous forms of migraine, but generally a classic migraine attack consists of two important, distinct phases. There is a first pre-headache phase, also known by some as the aura stage. The pre-headache stage is often without pain, but with specific pre-headache symptoms. These symptoms may include, for example, visual disturbances including images of colored bubbles, lines and the like, or other disturbances of the various senses, for example in hearing or the senses of taste and smell. Often, a spot of light known as the xe2x80x9cauraxe2x80x9d, is seen by the migraine patient during this pre-headache phase. Numbness or tingling of parts of the body, such as fingers, hands, lips and the like, has also been reported to occur.
In the case of the classical migraine attack, the pre-headache phase is accompanied by vasoconstriction, known to be a constriction of blood vessels in the head, leading to a local increase in blood pressure. In most cases, the pre-headache phase lasts from about 5 to 30 minutes and disappears slowly, together with the other pre-headache symptoms.
While these pre-headache symptoms disappear slowly, they are followed and replaced by the actual headache itself, which is often unbearable for the patient. The migraine headache has a number of frequently occurring side effects, such as nausea, increased sensitivity to light, to noise or to odor, visual disturbances, diarrhea, excessive yawning, sweating and others. Vasodilation is reported to occur during this second phase of the migraine, namely a widening of blood vessels in the head, resulting now in a reduction of local blood pressure.
Because of its frequency and severity, numerous techniques and drugs have been directed in the prior art to counteracting migraine. These, however, typically act during the headache phase. Thus, it is known, for example, to arrange belts providing tension around the head, possibly having discs positioned between the belts, during the headache, as is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,419,758 and 5,897,582, or to administer drugs which counteract the vasodilation.
None of the aforementioned methods or medications actually suppresses pain to a satisfactory extent. Also, it is undesirable to carry out manipulative treatments to the head of a patient during the headache phase, owing to hypersensitivity to external stimuli during the headache.
Surprisingly, it has been found that digital massage applied to the temporal area of the patient during the pre-headache phase may block development of the migraine or substantially ameliorate the symptoms. One possible explanation for this effect may be that if the flow of blood to the head is reduced by vigorous pressure or massage during the phase prior to the actual headache, very little headache occurs during the subsequent headache phase, or the headache is suppressed altogether. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism remains unknown whereby applying pressure and/or massaging the temporal area or other areas of the head is effective in ameliorating or substantially preventing migraine headache in a subpopulation of patients.
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention therefore provides a pressure application device for use during the phase preceding a headache, and in particular migraine headache, for applying pressure at least locally to one or more extracranial blood vessels adjacently underlying the skin of the head for ameliorating or substantially preventing the occurrence of a migraine headache.
By using the device according to the invention, it is possible to reduce pain during the subsequent headache phase by applying a substantially continuous pressure to certain extracranial blood vessels during the pre-headache phase. An important advantage of the device according to the invention is that headache is substantially prevented or lessened without the use of drugs.
Additionally, the device allows a user to receive constant pressure to the temporal area without requiring use of the hands, and for as long a period of time as necessary, since digital fatigue is avoided. Such prolonged, constant pressure has been found to be important in preventing or lessening the migraine, and has been reported by Lipton in Annals of Neurology, Vol. 19, No. 5, May 1986. The present invention, thus, allows the user to discreetly receive preventive treatment while engaged in his or her substantially normal daily activities.
The pressure application device comprises a biasing member, preferably a spring, and specifically a constant force spring for producing a force. An arm is connected to the spring for transmitting the force, and a pressure applicator is connected to the arm for applying the force to the skin in the form of pressure to thereby aid in compressing the blood vessel. A preferred embodiment of the invention has two arms connected to the biasing member for transmitting the force, and a pressure applicator connected to each arm for applying force to the skin in the form of a substantially constant pressure to thereby aid in compressing the blood vessel.
The pressure application device is easily portable by the arms being foldable. The foldable arm comprises a proximal arm portion hingedly connected to the biasing member, a distal arm portion pivotably connected to the proximal arm portion, and a pressure applicator connected to the distal arm portion. The device is thus foldable by pivoting each distal arm portion to a position alongside the proximal arm portion. The folded device may be carried by a user in a pocket sized case, similar in size and appearance to a case for eyeglasses.
The device may additionally be configured to apply pressure with motion to thereby provide a substantially massaging action. In addition, in a preferred embodiment of the device the spring comprises a constant force spring whereby a substantially constant force is produced regardless of displacement. The device is, therefore, able to apply a substantially constant pressure for an indefinite period of time without requiring adjustment or other intervention by the user.